Long-serving ­Stocksbridge chairman Allen Bethel thought he had seen it all when Jamie Vardy played for them for over six years.

A teenage Vardy arrived at the South Yorkshire club in 2003 and scored spectacular goals, lifted cups and earned them promotion during Stocksbridge’s finest years.

But he also kept Bethel busy with his ‘Jack the Lad’ reputation after the disappointment of being released by boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday.

Vardy was given an ­electronic tag after a pub toilet fracas in Sheffield which saw him handed a 6.30pm curfew. Bethel sorted a ­solicitor and various drivers to ensure he was home in time from away games, which sometimes meant substituting him early.

Bethel also found himself in front of the FA at Leeds after Vardy, and others, collected several red cards.

On form: Vardy is now the Premier League's top scorer (Image: Getty)

To top it all, when the part-time, £100-a-week striker was dangled a bigger cheque by fellow Northern Premier League side Halifax, he stunned Bethel with a transfer request to quit in 2010.

But Bethel nevertheless fondly recalls a player who was well worth the hassle, whose will to win and general enthusiasm for the game inspired team-mates.

Yet nothing could prepare him for what Stocksbridge’s most famous son has done since leaving his job as a carbon-fibre technician in a nearby factory.

Locals knew he was talented, but going on to play for England four times and becoming the Premier League’s leading scorer was beyond everyone’s – including Vardy’s – wildest dreams.

Trouble: Vardy had to play with an electronic tag during his time at the non-league club (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

The chairman, 74, told Mirror Sport : “He had been so ­disappointed by being released at 16, he just wanted to enjoy life.

“He wanted to play football and stay with his mates. He can’t have had a great deal of ambition back then because he stayed unpaid for two years in the Under-18s and three years in the second team.

“He was always ‘Jack the Lad’ but people like Jamie, he is an easy mixer. He was one who was always first in the changing room and last out, which made an impression and I could see there was something a bit special.

“He has a terrific burst of speed over five to 10 yards and a terrific engine, which is unusual as people usually have one or the other.

“He inspired the second team with his infectious character, he was the life and soul of that team. He began to play even better when he was more mature and helped our first team get promoted.

“But it wasn’t all lovey-dovey with Jamie and me. I wasn’t his best mate but I did everything I could to help him like I would any of the players.

“Vardy got into a bit of trouble and had to be tagged after he defended one of his pals who had been beaten up in a pub. I did a bit of talking to solicitors and he did play when he was tagged.

“It didn’t stop him scoring but it was around this time he started with his famous two-footed tackle and he did get sent off a bit.

“I used to get a bit annoyed with him because I had to pay him and he wasn’t on the field.

“I had to go to the FA because he had been sent off three times and increased the number of our club disciplinary points.”

Leicester: Marcin Wasilewski, Vardy and Andy King (Image: Getty)

The three red cards in quick succession discouraged Sheffield United from signing Vardy despite watching him eight times. Rotherham tried but only offered £2,000 for a short-term loan which Bethel dismissed.

Crewe took him on a two-week trial before rivals Halifax snapped him up for £15,000 after Vardy asked to go.

Bethel, chairman since 1986, added: “Everywhere he went there were a string of scouts. Players can obviously have our blessing to go if they are moving up the leagues and we are obtaining a fair price.”

These days Stocksbridge find themselves in the Evo-Stik Division One South but the memories of Vardy and the club’s most successful era abound at their Bracken Moor Lane clubhouse.

The striker – who tops the Premier League scoring charts with 10 – has ensured that. He will always be part of their club and will always keep a bit of Stocksbridge in his heart too.